Method of and tool for removing indentations



Aug 9,0932- w. FERGUSON 1,871,312

METHOD OF AND TOOL FOR REMOVING INDENTATIONS Filed NOV. 5, 1931 ff A ATTORNEY Patented ug. 9, 1932 'WILIJIM FERGUSON, OE' FLINT, MICHIGAN METHOD OF AND TOOL FOR REMOVING IDENTATIONB Application led November 3, 1981.

are so located that free access thereto is 0b' structed by the inner lining of the vehicle or other structure.

In my Patent No. 1,783,078, granted No- 10 vember 25, 1930, are shown, described and claimed several bumping-out tools adapted for use inremoving indentations from different portions of an automobile body, and while excellent work can be done with the bumping- 5 out tools disclosed in said patent, it is frequently necessary to remove part of the inner lining or upholstery of the automobile before the anvil of a bumping out tool of the patent can be placed against the inner face of the metal to be bumped out.

The present invention contemplates a method of removing indentations from the body of an automobile or other vehicle, whereby when the indentation is so positioned that free access thereto is obstructed by the inner lining or upholstery, the indentation may be bumped out without removing or disturbing the lining. This is accomplished by employing a slender rod which may be inserted through the fabric of the lining into engagement with the indentation, and imparting repeated blows to the rod to gradually force the portions of the indentation outwardly to the original or desired position. Through this simple expedient the indentation may be bumped out without removing the adjacent lining, and after the rod is withdrawn from the lining the threads that were slightly diso placed by the insertion of the rod through the fabric will return to their former position to conceal completely the aperture formed in the fabric by the rod.

Tn constructing automobile bodies it has a recently become a more or liess'general practice to coat the inner face of the sheet metal skin or walls of the body with a plastic material such as pitch or a fibrous material saturated with an adhesive binder; the object 50 in providing such coating is to deaden sounds Serial No. 572,830.

produced in the body and to reduce vibration of the metal arts. i

The use of suc coating material, however, seriousl interferes with the proper operation of bu disclosed in the above mentioned patent, since the coating prevents the backing tool or anvil from comin in direct contact with the surface to be um ed out, and forms an objectionable yieldlng layer between the face of the anvil and metal to be bumped out.

Another important feature of the present invention, therefore, resides in a method of and means for removing indentations from the metal body of an automobile when the inner face of the metal has a coating ap lied thereto which prevents the use of a bac ing tool. This is accomplished by employing a rod such as above mentioned and the inner end of which is suciently rounded or pointed to penetrate through the coating material into contact with the metal to be bumped out.

A further feature of the present invention resides in a slender bum ing-out tool which may be bent or bowed w ile in use to clear obstructions, and in a hammer-acting handle adapted to impart repeated blows to the bumping-out rod to gradually force the portions of the indentation outwardly to the original or desired position..

The above and other features of the invention will be further understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing illustratmping out tools of the type ing the bumping-out tool of the present invention and method of using the same.

Fig. l is a side elevation of a portion of an automobile body illustrating one use of the present bumping-out tool;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through a portion of the top of the automobile of Fig. 1 and further illustrates the use of the bumping-out tool; y

Fig. 3 on an enlar ed scale is a sectional view through the too of the present invention, and through the portion of the automobile body being bumped out;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4--4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view of a long flexible bumpingout rod; and

Fi 6 is a face view of a piece of lining or upho stery showing the bumping-out rod exl tending therethrough.

The present bumping-out tool may be used for varlous bumping-out operations where it is not practical to employ a hammer and backing tool as heretofore, and has the pro- 10 nounced advantage over the prior bumpingout tools in that 1t may be'inserted through the inner lining or upholstery without displacing or marring the same.

One use of the tool of the resent invenll tion is illustrated in Fig. 1 o the drawing in connection with an automobile which may be of the usual-construction, and has the steering wheel 10, top 11, rear door 12 and front door 13, the latter being open. The indentation 14 to be removed is shown as formed in the curved sheet metal structure 15 rovided between the side wall and top of t e automobile. This structure 15, which may be desi nated as the roof rail cover, is com- B5 mon y formed of a relatively long strip of metal extending from the rear to the front of the automobile bod and is secured to a side brace or rail 16 an to a top brace or rail 17, Fig. 2. v

Access to th-e inner face of the indentation 14 is obstructed, as will be apparent from Fi s. 1 and 2 by the inner lining or upholgstery 18 -so that in order to remove this indentation in accordance with the practice'- employed heretofore, it would benecessary to remove the lining. to permit a backing tool, such as a dollyor anvil, to be held against the inner face of indentation 14, while blows are delivered to the outer face of the indentation with a hammer.

The indentation 14 may be removed, however, in accordance with the present invention by simply thrusting a slender rod 19 through the lining fabric 18, so that the inner end of the rod rests against the inner face of the indentation `14. The indentation is then removed by imparting repeated blows to the rod 19 of a character to gradually force the portions of the indentation outwardly to the original or desired position, care being taken, however, not to operate the rod 19 with sufficient force to pierce through or unduly distort the sheet metal.

By employing a-slender bumping-out rod 19 as herein contemplated, the rod may be thrust through the lining or upholstery 18 without injuring the fabric since the rod will not rupture the strands of the fabric .but merely displace them. temporarily, as shown tion is finished andthe rod is removed, the yarns 2O of the fabric will be returned to ilshcir former position, to entirely conceal the o e. The bumping-out tool of the present inin Fig. 6, and when the pumping out opera-` vention is preferably so constructed that the desired blows are imparted to the rod 19 by reciprocating its supporting handle. To this end in the construction shown the rod 19 is adapted to be secured to the shaft or shank 21 upon which is slidably mounted the hammer-acting handle 22, the arrangement being such that each time the handle 22 is forced frontwardly upon the shaft 21 to the dotted line' position of Fig. 3 the handle will deliver a blowto the end 23 of the shaft. That is the bottom 24 of the socket 25 will strike against the end of the shaft 21.

In the construction shown the handle 22 is normally held in its retracted position upon the shaft 21 by the coiled spring 26 confined within the clearance passage 27 of the handle, and arranged so that one end of the spring rests against the bottom of the pas,- sage 27`while the other end of the spring rests against an annular shoulder 29 upon the shaft 21. The forward end of the handle 22 is threaded at 30 and is adapted to receive the internally threaded sleeve 31. The

forward end of the shaft 21 extends slidably'` through the sleeve 31 and the outward sliding movement of the handle 22 upon the shaft 21 is limited by the engagement of the v sloulder 29 with the inner wall of the sleeve 3 The bumping-out tools 19 may vary in length, size and shape to meet different bumping-out requirements and the inner ends may be dull or taper to a rounded point, as shown. It is, therefore, desirable to provide means for removably securing the different bumping-out rods to the supporting and operating means just described. This is accomplished by providing the shaft 21 with a drill hole or socket to receive the rear end of a rod 19 and the rod may be removably held in the socket by-a transversely extending pin 33.

It may be desirable to pievent the handle 22 from rotating upon the shaft 21 and this is accomplished by forming the shaftc21 and socket 25 square in cross section, as shown in Fig. 4.

As above pointed out the present tool is designed not only to penetrate through the liningJ into operating engagement with the underlying metal surface, but is also adapted to penetrate through the coating material that is frequentlyapplied to the inner face of the sheet metal walls of an automobile. This use of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein the sheet metal wall 34 has its inner face coveredwith a layer 35 of pitch or fibrous material saturated w'th an adhesive. In order to remove the inden ation 36 of Fig. 3 it is necessary to eit er remove the adhesive coating 35 or employ a tool that is sufficiently pointed to penetrate through thelayer 35 into contact with the metal 34. The bumping-out rod 19 is, therefore, shown in Fig. 3 as pointed sufficiently to penetrate through the coating 35. It will also be seenfrom this ligure that the rod 19 when inserted through the lining 37 may be readily shifted to engage its point with different portions of the indentation 36 to be bumped out.

In some cases it may be desirable to bend or bow the rod 19 while in use, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to clear braces or other obstructing parts, and obstructingmechanism may also be avoided by employing a rod of increased length, as shown in Fi 5.

It will be seen from the oregoing that through the employment of the present invention an indentation may be removed from the metal body of an automobile without disturbing the lining or upholstery, and that the bumping-out tool may be operated with one hand as shown in Fig. 1. This leaves the other hand free to engage the rod 19 and guide it into enga ement with the work.

What is claime is 1. The method of bumping out an indentation in the metal body of a vehicle when access to the indentation is obstructed, which consists in thrusting a rod through or between the obstructing parts into engagement with the indentation, holding the end of the rod against the indentation and imparting repeated blows to Vthe rod while it is held against the indentation to gradually force the portions of the indentationoutwardly to the original or desired position. g

2. The method of bumping out an indentation in the metal body of a vehicle when ac'- cess to the indentation is obstructed by the inner lining of the vehicle, which consists in thrusting a slender rod through the lining materialinto engagement with the in- 40 dentation, and imparting repeated blows to the rod to gradually force the portions of the indentation outwardly to the original or desired position.

3. The method of bumping out an indentation in the metal body of a vehicle when access to such indentation is obstructed by the inner textile lining of the vehicle, which consists in thrusting through the lining into engagement with the indentation a needlelike rod that is sufficiently small to pierce the lining without rupturing the threads thereof, and imparting repeated blows to the needle-like rod to gradually force the portions of the indentation outwardly so as to remove the indentation without the necessity of dis- Yturbing the position of the lining or upholstery. 4. The method of bum ing out an indentation in the metal body ci) a vehicle when the inner face of the metal to be bumped out is coated with a plastic material that prevents the use of a metal backing tool, which consists in placing against the indentation a rod provided with an end adapted to penetrate "'5 through said coating material into contact with the metal, and imparting repeated blows to the rod to gradually force the portions of the indentation outwardly to the original or desired position.

5. A bumping-out tool for removing in- 3@ dentations in the metal body of a vehicle when access to the indentation is obstructed by the inner textile lining of the vehicle, comprising in combination, a slender rod that may be thrust through the lining into engagement with the indentation without ruptu'ring the threads of the lining, a shaft connected to said rod, and ahammer-acting handle slidable upon the shaft and adapted to be reciprocated manually to impart repeated blows to the 80 rod to gradually force the portions of the indentation outwardly to the original or desired position.

6. A bumping-out tool for removing indentations in the metal body of a vehicle, comprising in combination, a slender flexible rod that may be bowed while in use t0 clear obstructions of the vehicle body and provided with an end adapted to be engagedwith the metal to be bumped out, a shaft connected to said rod, and a hammer-acting handle slidable upon the shaft and adapted to be reciprocated manually'to impart repeated blows through the-flexible rod to the indentation to gradually force thev portions of the indentation outwardly to the original or desired position.

In Atestimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specication.

WILLIAM FERGUSON. 10 

